Last Friday night a hailstorm affected the region of the Valle del Jerte, causing severe damage to cherry plantations located in the high part of the municipalities of El Torno and Rebollar.
According to the President of the Commonwealth of municipalities of the Valle del Jerte, Ernesto Agudiez, "the hailstorm was really intense, as the hailstones were the size of marbles and they destroyed many kilos of cherries." In its wake, the storm left lots of cherries in tatters, and the fruit remaining on the trees will suffer quality problems due to the blows it sustained and to the excess of moisture.
Nevertheless, Ignacio Montero Quintin, the President of the denomination of origin, Cereza del Jerte, stated: "the damage is very localized and does not significantly affect the total production of cherries from del Jerte, which is expected to achieve a record production if the weather permits it." The previous season was short due to a decline in production after a poor flowering. In addition, producers had substantial losses due to an excess of rain.
Meanwhile, this year's campaign started almost a month in advance, which, according to Ignacio Montero, increases the chance of it being affected by storms. "We are excited to start the campaign sooner, as market conditions are excellent for cherries, however we're also exposed to rainy conditions, as April and May tend to have lots of rains," he said.
"We hope this harvest will yield generous volumes and excellent quality because the fruits received the necessary cold hours and the trees have rested well." Producers expect to harvest around 50,000 tons of cherries.
Producers hope that the weather does not affect them and that they can move all this volume to the market, as cherries are a very important source of income in the area.
Jerte farmers will remain on alert for the next few days, as there might be more hail storms.